Scheelite is highly sought after by collectors for its brilliant blue fluorescence under short-wave UV light, which is a key diagnostic feature. It typically occurs as sharp bipyramidal crystals in skarn deposits formed by the contact metamorphism of limestone with igneous intrusions.
Is this scheelite?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch scheelite with a known reference. Scheelite sits at Mohs 4.5-5, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Streak: white.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Luster: vitreous to adamantine.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: white, colorless, pale yellow, brownish yellow, reddish yellow.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: tetragonal. Typical habit: columnar, disseminated, massive.
Often confused with
Scheelite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
How to tell apart: Quartz is the harder of the two (Mohs 7 vs. 4.5-5).
How to tell apart: Scheelite is noticeably harder (Mohs 4.5-5 vs. 3).
How to tell apart: Streak differs, so Scheelite leaves white, Powellite leaves light yellow; luster reads vitreous to adamantine on Scheelite and subadamantine, resinous, pearly on Powellite.
Often found alongside scheelite
Minerals reported to co-occur with scheelite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- CaWO₄
- Mohs hardness
- 4.5-5
- Density
- 6.10 g/cm³
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Vitreous to adamantine
- Transparency
- Transparent
- Crystal system
- Tetragonal
- Crystal habit
- Columnar, disseminated, massive
- Cleavage
- On {101}, distinct; on {112}, interrupted; on {001}, indistinct
- Fluorescence
- Bright bluish white under SW UV
- Rarity
- Common
- Uses
- Ore of tungsten, Collector, Fluorescent specimens
- Host rock
- Typically a component of contact-metamorphic tactite; in high-temperature hydrothermal veins and greisen; less common in granite pegmatites and medium-temperature hydrothermal veins; alluvial
Where rockhounds find scheelite
20 mapped spotsClassic worldwide localities
- Cohen mine, Dragoon Mountains, Cochise Co., Arizona, USA
- Commercially mined at the Pine Creek mine, near Bishop, Inyo Co., California, USA
- Bispberg iron mine, near Säter, Dalarne, Sweden
- Altenberg and Schwarzenberg, Saxony, Germany
- Cínovec (Zinnwald) and Horní Slavkov (Schlaggenwald), Czech Republic
- Traversella, Piedmont, Italy
U.S. states with scheelite
Each link opens a state-specific list of mapped rockhounding spots that produce scheelite.
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: Typically a component of contact-metamorphic tactite; in high-temperature hydrothermal veins and greisen; less common in granite pegmatites and medium-temperature hydrothermal veins; alluvial. If you start seeing cassiterite, wolframite, topaz in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: columnar, disseminated, massive. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop. In the U.S., the densest reported localities are in Utah, Montana, North Carolina. Start trip planning there.
More scheelite photos
Common questions
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Find scheelite on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
